Rain, rain, go-away. . .

Tim Young - 03 March 2011

This is supposed to be a blog about our allotment, but at the moment the only connection between blog and allotment is that I’ve been ignoring both for a while. And given the constraints on my free-time of wage slavery, I thought at least I could give this virtual plot some TLC. The earth of the real plot, I’m afraid, remains unturned.

One of the big problems I’m finding in trying to get the plot up and running is dealing with the vagaries of the weather. Small children are a wonderful thing to have in your life, but one of the things they reduce is one’s ability to be spontaneous. Chunks of time for tasks lasting more than, say, ten minutes have to chiselled out of the weekend schedule, planned and approved in triplicate. Unfortunately, each time either my wife or me has managed an allotment pass, it’s been raining, and plans have been put on hold accordingly. I know it’s missing the point somewhat, but I can’t help feeling retractable roofs over the plots could be a growth area?

So, the long and the short is that we still haven’t uncovered the plot from its winter cover of black plastic, and we certainly haven’t got as far as building the paths and preparing the beds that are going to come in handy fairly soon. The good news is that we have finally got it together to buy in seeds (from Garden Organic’s very convenient online catalogue), our first broad beans and cauliflower seedlings should be starting to germinate any day now, and the spuds are chitting. So best we dig some beds to plant them in. Finger’s crossed it doesn’t rain at the weekend.

Tim is editor of the Soil Association's Living Earth magazine, and has written on food, health and consumer issues for the last ten years. When not at work Tim is normally being run ragged by his two young sons. In 2009 Tim started trying to grow vegetables, and last year he took on an allotment. Two years later he is still trying to grow vegetables, and is very hopeful that one day soon he will have some success.